Audi offroader? Get in the Q...

Audi has registered a new series of badges which could give clues to the company’s upcoming SUVs. According to insiders, the German carmaker has recently registered the series Q3-Q8 and SQ3-SQ8. The Q is thought to stand for Quattro, and the S designates high performance.

Audi’s A6-based Pikes Peak SUV is in the final stages of development, and there are also plans for a smaller SUV derived from the long-wheelbase A3 Sportback. It’s thought the Q3 and Q7 badges could be reserved for the two planned SUVs.

However, there’s an outside chance that Audi is simply preparing to re-badge its road cars. This could mean A4 would designate a front-driver, Q4 the all-wheel-drive version and SQ4 the high-performance model.